A Showman's Life
by rockstarhobbit
Summary: COMPLETED. After the rescue from the now infamous island, DriveShaft hits it big and Charlie is on the road almost 300 days out of the year. The only thing missing is Claire and their kids.
1. He Gets That From Me

**A Showman's Life**

**---------------------------------**

**Summary: **Two-shot. After the rescue from the now infamous island, DriveShaft hits it big and Charlie is on the road almost 300 days out of the year. The only thing missing is Claire and their kids.

**A/n:** This song amazes me… I heard it at work and immediately thought Charlie/Claire, but I took a different route than the writer intended…

So some background information. It has been five years since the rescue, 3 since DriveShaft became HUGE! Claire has two children, Aaron and David. Aaron is eight and David is soon to be five. Now to the story!

This part is short because I am not used to writing as Claire… or Charlie, but the Charlie part is coming out so much easier!

**Disclaimer:** Lost belongs to ABC… Dom belongs to himself (thankfully) and the song belongs to Reba McIntyre…

**---------------------------------**

"**He Gets That From Me"**

**---------------------------------**

"_His early mornin' attitude:  
You have to drag him out of bed.  
Only frosted flakes will do,  
He gets that from me:  
Yeah, he gets that from me…"_

**---------------------------------**

"So you'll be home soon?" I asked over the phone. It was one of the many early morning phone calls that I had gotten so used to now-a-days. Charlie was always on the road. At first I was as excited as he was that DriveShaft was all big again and that everything was going to be perfect.

But I never expected him to be gone as long as he always seemed to be.

It was never a matter of whether he was being true to me. I knew he would always be, especially after the whole island incident, but I missed him, I missed him all the time.

So did Aaron and David.

"I don't know," he said over the phone. "I'll be home as soon as I can."

I knew that that was going to be the case, but it still made me a bit upset. I knew that Charlie was going to be away for a long time. That was the life he wanted more than anything, and I knew that. But I didn't expect him to be away from home as long as he was.

It was like I never saw him anymore, and it was upsetting.

"Okay," I forced out. Looking at the clock, I saw it was 5:30 in the morning. "I love you honey," I added. I always finished our conversations like that.

"I love you too, luv," I could hear the smile in his voice. He was happy. And if he was happy, then I could be happy about it too. "I love you too."

I heard the all-too-familiar click of the phone hanging up.

Aaron and David would be up soon. I didn't want to have to face it. Slowly, I put the phone back on the hook and curled up into a small ball on the sofa and fell asleep.

If Charlie was happy, then I would be happy too.

**---------------------------------**

"_His curly hair and his knobby knees:  
The way the sun brings those freckles out.  
Talk and talk, never miss a beat,  
Yeah, he gets that from me:  
He gets that from me…"_

**---------------------------------**

The days passed since the phone call, and I hadn't gotten very many more. I knew that Charlie was busy, but I always looked forward to his phone calls, all the time. But they were become farther and farther apart, and I was beginning to get this bad feeling.

I didn't want something to happen. Whether it be him finally giving into all the temptation of being a 'rock god' or there being another crash. Oh God, I didn't even want to think about if a plane would have crashed again.

I would be more than devastated. The thought alone brought tears freckling to my eyes. At least Karen was there. We lived in the same neighborhood and we got together all the time. Just to talk. We were in the same boat. We were stuck at home with the kids while our husbands went out and partied all the time, rarely ever coming home.

"What do you think they're doing right now?" Karen asked me as my eyes gazed out at the three kids playing in the overly large back yard. Megan was now eleven, Aaron was eight and David was almost five, but they all got along. They were like siblings, seeing as they were always together.

"Who?" I asked, my voice sounding far away.

"Liam and Charlie…"

"Sleeping." I said with a chuckle. "They're always sleeping." I knew they probably weren't sleeping, but I knew that if they were sleeping, they weren't getting into any trouble.

They had to be getting into trouble. They were men, seriously. And rock stars on top of that. Trouble Magnets. That was what they were.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Karen laughed right along with me.

I sighed. Oh I missed him. So much.

We sat in silence for a while. Not know what exactly to say to each other. This always happened. We'd talk for a little bit, then lapse into a long silence.

I looked at David, or 'Davie' as Charlie so lovingly called him. He looked so much like Charlie. Hell, he was Charlie. The spitting image of him. A lot of time it hurt to look at him. But I was so thankful for him. So glad that he was there.

**---------------------------------**

"_He looks at me with those big brown eyes:  
He's got me in the palm of his hands,  
And I swear sometimes it's just like you're here again.  
He smiles that little crooked smile:  
There's no denying he's your child.  
Without him I don't know what I'd do:   
He gets that from you:  
Oh, he gets that from you…"_

**---------------------------------**

The next time I got a phone call from Charlie, he was so upset. "What's wrong?" I asked him. It was late at night. I had already put David and Aaron to bed.

"That stupid bastard!" he cursed angrily.

"What's wrong Charlie, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong!" I said urgently, trying to get him to talk and tell me what was wrong with him.

"Devon, the bastard, he added another three weeks onto the tour!" he said angrily. "I'm not going to be home for Davie's fifth birthday!"

I could hear him getting upset. I was getting myself upset too. Charlie was the one who booked the shows, not Devon. And I remember him telling me that he directly made it so that we wouldn't miss David's fifth birthday.

Now he was going to, and it made me feel really bad.

"Just calm down Charlie. I'm sure Devon did it for a good reason. Besides, David's only turning five, I'm sure you'll be around for his sixth birthday." Once I said it, I wished I wouldn't have because silence lapsed over the two of us.

"I'm sorry…" he said quietly, I could hear bitterness in his voice, before the phone hang up.

No, that wasn't smart at all.

**---------------------------------**

"_How he loves your old guitar:  
Yeah, he's taught himself to play.  
He melts my heart: tells me he love me every day.  
And cracks jokes at the perfect time,  
Makes me laugh when I want to cry.  
That boy is everything to me:  
He gets that from you:  
He gets that from you…"_

**---------------------------------**

Charlie didn't call after that. I tried to call him, but it just went right over onto his voicemail. I sure wished that he hadn't done something stupid. I had talked to Karen, and she said that Liam said that Charlie was fine, he just needed to think.

Personally, I didn't believe either of them. I knew Charlie too well. He was hurt, and now he was trying to numb… oh no.

He told me that he wasn't going get back on heroin, or that he wasn't going to get drunk every night. But what if I had pushed him to do that? What if I had upset him that badly? I choked back the tears as I sat alone in the dining room.

David was taking a nap. He was going to be five tomorrow.

Aaron found Charlie's guitar from the crash. It was old, and beat up, but it still played, and he was in the living room, just playing around with it. He was getting good. For an eight year old who taught himself that is.

I couldn't play guitar at all. I was 'hopeless' as Charlie once said. Yes I was hopeless. But Charlie always left the 'crash guitar' at the house because he too realized that Aaron was teaching himself. While I didn't want Aaron going down the same road that his father went down, he was like Charlie too, even though there was genetically no Charlie in him.

He was Thomas son. I could see some of Thomas come out in him every now and then. But he was more like Charlie. Charlie was the one he grew up around until DriveShaft became huge again. Charlie was his dad. He didn't want to believe anything else.

Sure I had told him about Thomas, but he didn't believe me. It was for the better I guess.

"All right Aaron, time for bed!" I shouted, slowly getting up and walking into the living room. "We have a busy day tomorrow."

Aaron looked up from his guitar. "Is dad gonna make it home?" he asked, biting his tongue as he concentrated really hard on trying to hit the right notes.

"I don't think so honey. He's really busy. I'm sure he'll be here in spirit though."

"I guess," was all he responded as he stood up and worked his way up the steps. "I miss him a lot… but we're fine without him…"

"Don't say that Aaron!"

"It's true, we are fine! He's never around."

"BED… NOW!" I shouted angrily. There was a tiny part of me though, that believed him. As much as I didn't want to believe him.

**---------------------------------**

The party came and went. No Charlie. It stung deep down that he didn't even call to wish his son a happy birthday. I was just about ready to put them both to bed. It had been a long, exhausting day. While David didn't have many friends his own age, everyone from the crash came. At least the survivors.

They all wished that Charlie was there, but they didn't want it as much as I did. Or as much as Aaron or David.

I brushed away the stray tears that had worked their way down my face.

"All right. Bed time!" I said, getting my mind off of Charile.

He was happy and that was all that mattered. It was then that I heard a knock at the door.

"I'LL GET IT!" Aaron shouted, as he sprung up and ran to the door.

I turned and followed him. I didn't like him answering the door himself. I stopped when I saw who was standing in the doorway.

"Sorry I'm late," he said with a small, tired smile.

**---------------------------------**

"_Last night, I heard him pray:  
Lord, help me and mama make it through.   
An' tell Daddy we'll be okay:  
He said he sure misses you:  
He sure misses you.  
He really misses you:  
He gets that from me…"_

**---------------------------------**

**A/n: **Okay, so the next part is from Charlie's point of view, because I write better as Charlie. I wasn't sure which one to post first because they both happen at the same time, but I really wanted this one first.

Leave some love in the form of a review!


	2. A Showman's Life

**A Showman's Life**

**---------------------------------**

**Summary: **Two-shot. After the rescue from the now infamous island, DriveShaft hits it big and Charlie is on the road almost 300 days out of the year. The only thing missing is Claire and their kids.

**A/n:** Originally this story was only going to be a one part, but I decided to add in Charlie's POV on the situation, because it would be good to have. This song fits okay, it isn't the greatest fit, since Charlie was famous before, but never like this.

Charlie's POV

**Disclaimer:** Lost belongs to ABC… Dom belongs to himself (thankfully) and the song belongs to Gary Allan

**---------------------------------**

"**A Showman's Life"**

**---------------------------------**

"_A showman's life,  
Is a smoky bar,  
And the fevered chase,  
Of a tiny star,  
It's a hotel room,  
And a lonely wife,  
From what I've seen,  
Of a showman's life…"_

**---------------------------------**

I sat in the hotel room on the phone with Claire. I felt bad because I hadn't called her in a while, but I didn't have the time. Playing to sold out shows all the time. And now we were going to smaller places, because the big venues were just too impersonal. That was Liam's decision. Personally, I could care less.

All I wanted was to go back to Claire, Aaron and Davie. But I couldn't do that. I had a dual dream, and unfortunately, I couldn't do both of them at the same time. Being on the road with a rock band was no way for two little boys to grow up.

But DriveShaft had finally hit it big, and I was going to milk it until it went dry! And Claire understood that. She was so amazing. So great. That was why I loved her. That was why I married her. She knew that this was my dream, but I still loved her and the kids.

(And there was the fact that we were now filthy rich, but Claire doesn't like to talk about that.)

"So you'll be home soon?" Claire asked on the other end of the phone.

I felt my heart tearing into pieces. How could I tell her that it was going to be another four weeks until we finish this leg of the tour and got a one week break before the next leg?

"I don't know honey," I lied over the phone. I could feel her getting upset over the phone, but she tried her hardest not to show that. "I'll be home as soon as I can."

"Okay," she said over the phone. It made me feel worse, but this was the life I had chosen. This was the life I wanted more than anything else. "I love you honey…"

"I love you too, luv," I said with a smile. I knew that Claire couldn't see it, but I wanted her to. "I love you too."

With that, I hung up the phone. I missed Claire so much, it hurt. I missed Davie and Aaron too. Even if Aaron wasn't my real son, I still loved him just as much as Davie.

I fell back on the hotel bed. It wouldn't be long until Patrick and Sinjin came running in with the alcohol and girls on each arm. I would never do that. Liam and I made a pact. We weren't going to get drunk _every_ night, and we'd stay faithful, no matter how hard it was.

I loved Claire, and that was all that mattered.

**---------------------------------**

"_Nobody told me about this part,  
They told me all about the pretty girls,  
And the wine,  
And the money,  
And the good times,  
There's no mention of,  
All the wear and tear,  
On an old honky tonker's heart,  
Well I might of known it,  
But nobody told me about this part,"_

**---------------------------------**

The next thing I knew, Liam was in my room. Patrick and Sinjin no where to be found.

"You okay?" he asked me. I sat up. I must have fallen asleep.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied. I wasn't fine. I missed Claire and Davie and Aaron, probably as much as he missed Megan and Karen.

"You liar," he said with a small smile, tackling me onto the bed. Wow, if this wasn't what life was like before the crash. Before Claire and before the kids. Just four guys, having one heck of a good time.

"I'm not lying," I said firmly pushing him off me and sitting up again.

"Don't lie to me baby brother," Liam said just as firmly as he sat up and looked me in the eye. He was my older brother. I couldn't lie to him for that long.

"I miss her man… I miss her…" I finally admitted.

"No really?" he asked with a small smile.

I hit him hard, but it got me to smile. "I love this, everything about it. But I miss her, and Davie and Aaron. I miss them so much. And Sinjin and Patrick aren't helping."

Liam laughed. "I know exactly what you mean. We can cut the tour off early and just go back home, I think we'd both like that."

"Yeah, and Patrick and Sinjin would kill us. Slowly and painfully," I said dejectedly.

"You have a point there… and where are we without lead guitar and drums?"

"Right back where we started," I sighed, falling back onto the bed. "Right back where we started."

**---------------------------------**

"_A boy will dream,  
As children do,  
Of a great white way,  
Until the dream comes true,  
And a phony smile,  
In a colored light,  
Is all there is,  
To a showman's life,  
Nobody told me about this part,"_

**---------------------------------**

More time passed between the conversation with Liam and another two weeks of shows. I had called Claire twice. I felt so horrible, but I didn't have the time. Whether it was making sure that Patrick and Sinjin didn't get too out of hand, or just having more heart-to-heart conversations with Liam, I was always busy with something.

So there I sat, on the tour bus. We were driving… somewhere. I didn't even know where we were or where we were going anymore. It was all a big blur to me. But it wasn't like I cared, or needed to know. It was Sinjin's job to remember where we were all the time. I just played my bass, sang a little bit… and stood there and looked cute.

It was a good life for the money. We were even working on material for another album. But it was all crap.

I was slowly losing it, slowly going insane. Falling deeper and deeper into this little rut I found myself falling into.

Patrick and Sinjin never really noticed it. They were in it for the party life. Everyone knew it. But Liam noticed. And he was always telling me to just go home, they could do two or three gigs without me. But I wasn't going to let the band down.

I couldn't let the band down.

But at the same time, I couldn't let my family down.

There were only two more weeks. I could handle it.

**---------------------------------**

"_Nobody told me about this part,  
They told me all about the pretty girls,  
And the wine,  
And the money,  
And the good times,  
There's no mention of,  
All the wear and tear,  
On an old honky tonker's heart,  
Well I might of known it,  
But nobody told me about this part,_

But nobody told me about this part,"

**---------------------------------**

The next thing I knew, Devon (our manager) called a meeting between him and the band and blatantly told us that he added another three weeks of shows to the bill, and that after that we could go home.

Liam fought it. Harder than I did. Devon didn't understand what it was like to leave family at home. But it was no use. We had three more weeks of shows. And we had to do them.

I had to hold everything in not to go and just kill the guy like I had killed Ethan all those years ago. He was hurting Claire, and I wasn't about to let anybody hurt Claire.

As soon as Devon left, I started shouting angrily. Sinjin and Patrick just looked at me like I was a loon and slowly left. Bloody bastards. They didn't care. All they wanted was the booze and the chicks. We all knew it.

But we just got to the point of not caring.

Slowly, I called Claire, trying not to get too upset. As soon as I spoke, I knew that Claire knew that something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" she asked, almost immediately.

"That stupid bastard!" I cursed. I hated him. He got a percentage of the money we made, and I did most of the manager work. He just took the title and the money.

"What's wrong Charlie, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong!" she said soothingly on the other end.

I took a deep breath. I was getting myself all upset over this. And it sucked.

"Devon, the bastard, he added three more weeks onto the tour!" I said angrily. "I'm not going to make it home for Davie's fifth birthday!" I was getting myself all upset over this.

"Just calm down Charlie. I'm sure Devon did it for a good reason. Besides, David's only turning five, I'm sure you'll be around for his sixth birthday."

If only Claire knew how much that statement hurt me. It burned. It hurt. It made me hate myself for being here. Being here and not back home with them. I needed to be with them. It was like a drug. I was addicted, and now I was going through withdrawal. Sure there was the phone, sure there was the internet. But I wasn't there to hug them, and kiss them, and tell them to their faces that everything was going to be okay.

I was a shitty father.

"I'm sorry," I said, not being able to control the bitterness in my voice as I hung up the phone.

Then I did something I never thought I would do. I started to cry. I had never cried about being away form them before. But I had never been away for _this_ long. It was going on six months now. Six months since I had seen their smiling faces. Six months since I had felt them hug me.

Six months too long. I had finally lost it as I broke down on one of the couches.

**---------------------------------**

"_Nobody told me about this part,  
They told me all about the pretty girls,  
And the wine,  
And the money,  
And the good times,  
There's no mention of,  
All the wear and tear,  
On an old honky tonker's heart,  
Well I might of known it,  
But nobody told me about this part,"_

**---------------------------------**

It was Liam who found me.

"Charlie, calm down," Liam said slowly, lifting me up by the shoulders.

"How can I? I _scheduled_ the shows so that I could be home for Davie's birthday! Now I can't. This is really important for me! I **_need_** to be there for this!" I said, getting more and more upset with every word.

Liam sighed. I really was a mess, wasn't I? "Go home Charlie," he said slowly.

"What? I can't!" I said quickly, just getting myself more upset.

"Yes you can Charlie. Maybe you have noticed it, but I have. You're losing it! You were around Claire for… almost three years 24/7, now she's never around. Just go, we can do it without you!"

I shook my head. No. Liam was talking crazy talk. I met the fans every night. And so many of them walked up still saying how happy they were that I was alive, that I survived, and that I was thinking of them. Some of them even told me that I had been in their prayers. I couldn't let the fans down.

"Charlie," Liam said forcefully, grabbing my shoulders and making me look into his eyes. "I'll take lead, Sinjin'll take bass. We'll just make up some story about you being sick. You need to go home. This is more important than anything else. You got me?"

Slowly, my head nodded. He wasn't going to let me say no, I knew Liam too well. "What… what about you?" I asked, my voice small.

"I'll be fine. At least I've called Karen more than a few times. Are you afraid to call Claire?" he asked.

NO! I wasn't afraid to call Claire. No, there just wasn't enough time. And that was just an excuse I came up with. Maybe… maybe I was afraid. "Afraid that hearing her voice is gonna make things worse, and not better. Charlie, you have to choose which life you want. You can't take both of them. You and Claire, there's something about you two. You're more than perfect and you know it! Besides, the most I've heard you talk is during the show when you're explaining what happened with the crash, and sometimes you even leave Claire out."

"Maybe you can't see it, but just talking about Claire hurts you. Now you are going to get on a plane, and get your ass back to Australia for Davie's fifth birthday, or I am gonna fire you from the band!"

I just sat there, letting everything that Liam had said sink in. How could he read me like a book? I thought that the only person who could do that was… Claire. Slowly, my head nodded once more. I couldn't say no to him because he was talking the truth. Even if I couldn't see it.

"Now come on baby brother… let's get you home…"

**---------------------------------**

"_Nobody told me about this part,  
They told me all about the pretty girls,  
And the wine,  
And the money,  
And the good times,  
There's no mention of,  
All the wear and tear,  
On an old honky tonker's heart,  
Well I might of known it,  
But nobody told me about this part,"_

**---------------------------------**

Sinjin and Patrick weren't as angry as I thought they were going to be. They actually had noticed me changing, but didn't want to say anything about it. I could only image why.

I was happy to be going home though. They promised to go along with the sick thing. And I wouldn't be gone for that long, just a little bit. I'd come back. I wouldn't let the guys down like that. I wouldn't let the fans down like that.

But this was more important. Far more important.

I hugged the three of them at the small airport. "Thanks guys, you don't realize how important this is for me…" I smiled and turned to get on the plane.

A small spasm of fear bulleted through me, but passed just as quickly. I wasn't deathly afraid of airplanes as I had been when we had first been rescued. Now it was just getting myself onto the airplane that was the hard part.

I turned one last time and waved goodbye to the three of them, before they turned to leave, and I turned to get back on the plane.

Part of me still couldn't believe that I was actually going home.

**---------------------------------**

I didn't sleep at all on the whole flight, and that was odd. Normally if I'd get on a plane, I'd fall asleep right away. I guess I was just _that_ excited about going home. About seeing Davie and Aaron and Claire. I missed them soooo much.

Slowly, I worked my way up the walkway. I had missed the whole party, and it looked like Claire had really out done herself. I put the small suitcase down and knocked on the door. I took a deep breath. This was it. I was so excited and happy.

Aaron answered the door. I smiled and picked him up in a big hug.

"Dad?" he asked.

I put him down as I spotted Claire coming into view.

"Sorry I'm late." I smiled.

**---------------------------------**

"_Well I might of known it,  
But nobody told me about this part…"_

**---------------------------------**

_Fin._

**---------------------------------**

**A/n: **I hope you liked it!

The Pirate Illusionist - Haha!

Lost Hobbit - I like your screen name! Haha! I actually had this part written because I wrote them at the exact same time. Besides, Charlie/Claire is the greatest! Actually Summeran is the greatest, then Charlie/Claire… haha

A Teenage Werewolf - Wow… thanks! Although this one ended at the same point as the other one. I wanted it to be a semi-cliffhanger, but still a happy endingish…

Merry2BLost - Love the screen name!

charlieclaire4ever - Thanks!


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